Hurricane Matthew, the fiercest Caribbean storm in almost a decade, battered Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic with torrential rain and powerful winds, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to take cover. At least 11 deaths have been blamed on the storm, five of them in Haiti. But the situation in the western tip of the impoverished nation is unclear, with a key bridge washed out, roads impassable and phone communications down.

A man walks down a flooded street, in a neighbourhood of the commune of Cite Soleil, in the Haitian capital Port-au-PrinceHector Retamal/AFP

Hours after Hurricane Matthew swept into Haiti on 4 October with 145mph winds, government leaders said they weren't close to fully gauging the impact in the vulnerable, flood-prone country where less powerful storms have killed thousands. As much as three feet (one metre) of rain was forecast to fall over hills in Haiti that are largely deforested and prone to flash floods and mudslides, threatening villages as well as shantytowns in the capital Port-au-Prince.

A man cuts branches off fallen trees in an area flooded by a river after Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, HaitiAndres Martinez Casares/ReutersResidents work clearing a house destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, HaitiAndres Martinez Casares/ReutersA vehicle makes its way along a flooded street in Cite Soleil, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, HaitiHector Retamal/AFPPeople wade across a flooded street covered in floating debris in Port-au-Prince, HaitiCarlos Garcia Rawlins/ReutersA man inspects the rising water level of a river running through Port-au-Prince, HaitiCarlos Garcia Rawlins/ReutersA man clears debris after Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, HaitiAndres Martinez Casares/ ReutersWomen sit at the entrance of a house damaged by Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, HaitiAndres Martinez Casares/ ReutersA man pushes a bicycle in a flood area after Hurricane Matthew passed through Les Cayes, HaitiAndres Martinez Casares/ReutersDamaged trees sway with the wind as Hurricane Matthew hits Les Cayes, HaitiAndres Martinez Casares/ReutersA woman pushes a wheelbarrow along a flooded street in Port-au-PrinceHector Retamal/AFPClouds cover the mountains above Petionville, a suburb of the Haitian capital of Port-au-PrinceHector Retamal/AFP

The hurricane has hit Haiti at a time when tens of thousands of people are still living in flimsy tents and makeshift dwellings because of the 2010 earthquake.

At least four people are known to have lost their lives when the storm hit the Dominican Republic, the country that shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. They died beneath mudslides and collapsing walls.

People look at the roof of a house which collapsed during the passage of Hurricane Matthew killing a child, in the neighbourhood of La Puya, in Santo DomingoErika Santelices/AFPChildren wade along a flooded alleyway in La Puya, a neighbourhood of Santo Domingo, in the Dominican RepublicErika Santelices/AFPPeople gather outside a house where two sisters died in Santo Domingo, in the Dominican RepublicErika Santelices/AFPA relative of two siblings who died when a landslide knocked the walls of their house down during the passage of Hurricane Matthew, sits in the window of a house in the neighbourhood of Capotillo, in Santo Domingo, in the Dominican RepublicErika Santelices/AFP

Cuba's government has traditionally made extensive efforts to cope with hurricanes, and authorities spent days organising volunteers to get residents to safety and secure property. However, Matthew whipped Cuba with 140-mile-per-hour winds on Tuesday, pummelling towns and farmland while destroying many of it's roads. There were no immediate reports deaths, casualties or major damage on the Caribbean island.

A woman cries amid the rubble of her home, destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in Baracoa, CubaRamon Espinosa/ APA view of partially destroyed banana trees at a road side after the passage of hurricane Matthew on the coast of Guantanamo province, CubaAlexandre Meneghini/ ReutersGeneral view of the state in which a coastal road between Guantanamo and Baracoa was left after the passage of Hurricane Matthew through the eastern tip of CubaYamil Lage/ AFP

Forecasters are warning Matthew is likely to remain a major hurricane as it sweeps through the Bahamas towards Florida and the Atlantic coast of the southern United States. The governor of South Carolina has ordered the evacuation of more than one million people.

A woman buys a generator and other emergency supplies in Oakland Park, FloridaAmy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via APPeople remove furniture from a beachfront home in Garden City Beach, South CarolinaRandall Hill/Reuters